


Fragile

by Burgie



Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 14:19:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9275825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Peridot tells Steven why she's so afraid of things.





	

“Peridooot!” The small green gem ran away from the angry Steven, clutching the game console to her chest and hoping not to trip over. One controller bounced against her leg, so she picked it up. Then the other fell, tangled around her knees, and Peridot screamed as she found herself on the ground again. She glared at the cord wrapped around her legs. Trapped. Again.

In her mind, the cord changed into an amethyst-spiked whip, and Peridot trembled. Amethyst was coming after him. She was best friends with Steven, and she liked to play this game too, and she was an amethyst despite her size, and, and…

“Peridot?” The gem screamed when Steven broke her out of her thoughts, and tried to scramble away from him. The cord was still wrapped around her legs, so she put her trembling hands to her gem.

“Please don’t hurt me!” she cried, squeezing her eyes shut.

“What? Why would I hurt you?” asked Steven. She opened her eyes and saw the confused half-gem standing in front of her. Right. Why would Steven hurt her? It was only him. Only Steven.

“Uh… um… Steven,” said Peridot, and let out a shaky breath as she let her hands fall away from her gem. She tried to untangle the cord from around her legs, but she was still shaking too much. Steven did it for her, gently disentangling her and setting the (thankfully undamaged) console aside.

“It’s okay,” said Steven. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“But I stole your thing! Aren’t you upset?” asked Peridot.

“Well, yeah, of course I am,” said Steven. “But that doesn’t mean I have to hurt you. You don’t need to be scared of me.” He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and Peridot flinched away.

“But you sounded so… angry,” said Peridot, shivering.

“Well, I’m not anymore,” said Steven. “Why are you so scared?” Peridot looked away, still trembling, and then finally looked back at him.

“Peridots are replaceable, Steven,” said Peridot. “Most gems are on Homeworld. The worker ones, anyway. If I made a mistake, if I upset my superior… I’d be shattered. And here, you are my superior. You’re everyone’s superior, Steven.”

“Well, it’s not like that here,” said Steven. “Everyone’s important.” He hugged her, and Peridot felt warmth blossom in her chest. She returned his embrace, comfortable.

“You’re wonderful, Steven,” said Peridot.

“Thanks,” said Steven, and she knew that his cheeks reddened. He pulled away from the hug to smile at her, and Peridot felt safe.

“On Homeworld, every loud noise was terrifying,” said Peridot. “It was someone being shattered or someone getting in an… unfortunate accident.”

“So that’s why you’re scared of thunder, and why you ran away the other day when Amethyst knocked over a bookcase,” said Steven. Peridot nodded, ashamed.

“I’m sorry I stole your thing,” said Peridot.

“Why did you steal it, Peridot?” asked Steven.

“We finished Camp Pining Hearts and Lapis threatened to drown me if I watch it again,” said Peridot.

“Oh,” said Steven. He looked at the game in the console. “Well, that’s a single-player game, so why don’t I bring all my games over and then we can play them together?” He smiled.

“Really?” asked Peridot. “You’d do that?”

“Uh huh,” said Steven, nodding. “Come on, you can help me carry them.”

“You’re so nice, Steven,” said Peridot as they walked back to the house. “It’s like you can’t hate anyone.”

“Well, I get mad at Onion sometimes, but he’s just being Onion,” said Steven. “Everyone has their own story and reasons for doing the things they do. Like, you stole my game so you could play it with Lapis.”

“So… it’s okay that I took it?” asked Peridot.

“No, next time, ask first,” said Steven.

“I will,” said Peridot. “Thank you for letting me have it.” Steven patted her on the shoulder.

“There you go, you’re getting better at your manners,” said Steven. “You’re fitting right in here, Peridot.”

“I’ve been studying your human mannerisms,” said Peridot. Steven smiled, glad that Peridot was back to her old, boastful self. Sometimes the gems, including himself, had moments of self-doubt, but they all helped each other through it. That was just what friends did.

Peridot was happy and talkative as they picked out what games to play. And, on the walk back to the barn, Peridot told Steven all about the Camp Pining Hearts fanfiction she was working on. Apparently, she’d found a website devoted to the show. Steven had no idea what some terms meant, but Peridot was happy, so he let her talk.

“There you are, what did you get?” asked Lapis, flying down from the loft.

“A game system and a gaming buddy,” said Peridot, wrapping her arm around Steven. Steven grinned, waving at the water gem. Lapis smiled and waved back.

“What do you do with it?” asked Lapis, looking at the system after Steven had plugged it in. Both gems were hovering just behind him, Lapis in the literal sense.

“You play it,” said Steven. “Here, I’ll show you.”

They had fun playing the games together. Peridot caught on quickly, despite calling the technology primitive, and Lapis was confused but had fun anyway. Steven had already played all the games, some several times, but he found new fun in replaying them. As he always said, things were a lot more fun when friends joined you. 

Steven slept at the barn that night, curled up on the fold-out couch with the two other gems. Lapis sprawled ungracefully across most of the bed, while Steven hogged the blankets and Peridot hugged a Pierre daki, whatever that was. Steven laughed when he awoke to find them like that the next morning, Lapis drooling and snoring loudly, and Peridot doing the same minus the drool.


End file.
